Amanda is a 15 year audio industry veteran with notable projects in the audiobook, gaming, film, and television fields. Amanda is something of an audiobook engineering legend having recorded, edited, and directed over 1000 audiobooks, including 7 Audie nominations. Bryan Cranston, George Takei, and Hillary Rodham Clinton are counted among those she's recorded throughout her career. ​

After earning a Master’s degree in Music Technology from New York University, she spent time working as a live sound engineer before turning to studio work. She served as ADR engineer for hit shows such as ‘Orange Is The New Black’ and ‘The Good Wife’, and recorded and edited dialogue on video games such as Telltale's ‘The Walking Dead’ as well as directing voice performances for animation.In addition to continuing her studio work, Amanda is audio producer for SerialBox.com and coaches voiceover actors in the NYC SAG-AFTRA voiceover lab.

I first met Amanda in New York when I attended her one of her audiobook technical workshops – she has since been my Audiobook editor of choice whenever I am producing independently, including for ‘But My Brain Had Other Ideas’ which is shortlisted for the best non-fiction audiobook performance in the 2019 One Voice Awards.

I am so exciting to have Amanda working with me and the narrators taking the course. I know her insight and feedback will be invaluable.

That sinking feeling - money thrown away or a wise investment?

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Do you ever get a sinking feeling after you've made an impulse buy that you perhaps couldn't afford, and which, when you get it home, turns out to be a big mistake?

I certainly have a few disastrous impulse buys hanging in my wardrobe - and it's even easier to buy impulsively online. However - this post is not about buying a new dress or a pair of shoes. I am talking about spending money on your career and investing in your business - and how to avoid making some costly mistakes.

It's important to invest in my career and in the equipment and software that I use. I want to learn how to use my skills effectively, I want to build my business and to expand into new areas of work; I want to make social media and marketing work to my best advantage - and to make the most of my USP in an increasingly overcrowded market.

And it goes without saying, there are numerous individuals and organisations that will take my money and in exchange, will promise to help me with all of these things. However, it's all too easy to get swept away on a cloud of enthusiasm leading to some very expensive mistakes!

When I am out shopping in the real world and am tempted by an impulse buy, I take a break - I leave the store and have a walk around, get a coffee and talk to myself very severely! If I haven't convinced myself not to buy whatever it is within half an hour, I go back and take another look - a very critical look and I ask myself some questions:

Can I afford it?

'Will this new thing be compatible/work well with what I have already?'

'Does it suit me and my lifestyle?'

'Will its value last and will I get good use from it for years to come?

If the answer to any of these questions is 'No', then it goes back on the shelf.

If I can honestly answer 'YES' to those questions - then I ask myself

'Have I already got something that does more or less the same thing and is still working?

​If the answer to this questions is 'NO' then I buy whatever it is, guilt free, because I know that I've made an informed decision rather than an impulse buy. And of course ... I can go through a similar process when buying something online: I can pop it into my shopping cart - then walk away and think about it for half an hour before pressing the pay now button.

But what about shopping online for stuff I need for my business, whether that be equipment, software, coaching, mentoring, support - or membership of an industry related organisation or group?

​I know that on more than one occasion I have been swept along on a wave of optimism and have pressed the 'buy now' button without a second thought. It's so easy to do - maybe I've succumbed because colleagues are posting on social media about joining this or that amazing organisation; signing up for this fantastic course; taking classes with this wonderful coach; or how simply doing X, Y and Z has transformed their career.

Sometimes it's a persuasive sales pitch or an hefty discount 'upgrade to the latest version of 'A' and save $100 dollars ... offer ends on Friday' that convinces me that my life and career can be transformed. Why am I tempted to buy a new mic, or the upgrade to the latest version of my editing software rather than sticking with the tried and tested version that I already have - and which works perfectly well? Why on earth do I find myself being tempted into signing up for this, that and the next thing? Why and how is usually-cautious-me being so easily seduced?

Audiobooks - Telling the story

​In audiobooks, the narrative voice refers to the voice of whoever is telling the story. The most common narrative voice in fiction is the 3rd person narrative, but 1st person narrative is also used; in non-fiction many books are written in the 2nd person narrative - but in autobiography and memoir, obviously the first person narrative voice is used.

What does all this mean? And how, as narrators, do we approach these different narrative voices?

And importantly - how to we ensure that we stay engaged and connected with the text so that the listener is drawn into the story and remains fully involved and connected throughout?​

B is for ... ​

As actors we use our bodies to express our mood, our thoughts and emotions - and of course the essence of the character we're playing. Gesture, posture, the way you walk, the speed of your general movement is a powerful way of expressing yourself. The way you use your body speaks volumes to the observer showing your age, your personality and even your outlook on life without you having to speak a word. The way the body works is an essential part of character creation - let's face it, Charlie Chaplin's whole career was linked to his unique walk.

We are all increasingly aware of the value of exercise and keeping fit and while many of us are interested in improving our physical appearance and stamina, traditional keep fit and gym training doesn't necessarily give us the kind of workout and body training that fulfills our needs as performers - needs which are quite different from the kind of physicality needed to be an athlete.

For an actor the emphasis is on flexibility, stamina, expressiveness, characterisation, on motivated movement with purpose as well as on posture, relaxation, stillness and control. But what relevance has this for a voice actor?

An actor’s body is on show and under scrutiny and unless the intention is to draw attention to a character’s particular physical attributes, then the ability to move in an easy and fluid way that doesn’t distract the audience’s eye is a valuable attribute. An actor needs to develop a healthy body and maintain it in good working order - a actor's body needs to have an extraordinary level of control and stillness and be flexible and expressive. For an actor, any exercise regime is targeted on a different set of goals than simply gaining strength or losing weight; strength and stamina are obviously important; acting can be physically challenging – dancing and fighting occur in a great many plays and films! Movement training for an actor will normally include dance (incorporating period dance), gesture, fencing, stage fighting and tumbling.

Dancing, fencing and tumbling have no immediate relevance to voice acting; indeed you may wonder whether 'the body' and its fitness and flexibility has anything at all to do with voice acting. When you're in a small padded room in front of a microphone, you can't move around very much, you can't gesture and no one can see your posture or the physicality of your character.

However - especially for long form narration, stamina is vital - so is the reduction of physical stress which affects the voice, so body training and awareness combined with specialist forms of movement and relaxation such as the Alexander Technique and the Laban method are relevant and play a significant role in a regime that helps to build stamina, good breath control and vocal flexibility - all vital requirements for voice actors.

Your body is part of your vocal equipment and you owe it to yourself to stay generally in as good a shape as you can manage. Being generally fit is a great blessing and an asset to all performers and aids stamina and the ability to breathe properly.

About me

P​hoto Credit: Paul Haynes​

I've gleaned quite a lot of knowledge over the years, knowledge that might be of interest to others, especially authors, actors and voice actors. Because I read so much, for pleasure and professionally, I also occasionally write reviews of what I read - so they're here too.